Today we’d like to introduce you to Debra (DJ) McGlamery.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I grew up in Snellville, Ga., graduated high school in the early 70’s & went to work for a bank. While in banking I watched, people make money and paid attention. I worked in banking for over 25 years before coming off the road and going to work for myself. When I left the bank, I cashed in some of my bank stock & vested retirement fund & put my down payment on a vacation rental on the beach on Amelia Island. I am so glad I did because bank stock fell, mergers occurred & many of my former colleagues lost a good portion of their retirement. I was able to build a new home in the country where I opened an outdoor photography studio that I worked at for the next 10+ years. I was able to keep my old home as a rental property. I started to buy houses, fix them up & either sell them or keep them as a rental. It grew into building new homes & remodeling for others.
On the weekends, I played bass in a band. In 2008, I had been self-employed for 11 years. Digital photography & cell phones did away with the photography business. Due to the economy, my construction company had no business and my tenants became unemployed & were not making their rent. No one was going on vacation. I had to figure out how to save myself from failing. My mother Sadie Moon & I disassembled three 100+ year old barns, board by board, post by post in 2007 & I stored the barn wood for future use. Little did I know that the barn wood would save me and actually change my life. My future husband, Tommy Tarver, a master woodworker & I started to build furniture out of the old barn wood instead of remodeling & construction. Each piece of furniture was a one of a kind & we sold it at Lakewood and Dixie monthly Antiques markets & various flea markets around Georgia. In fact, we met some of our future vendors there.
My parents, Gene & Sadie Moon & a partner owned & operated Treasures For Your Home furniture store in Snellville for 45 years closing in 2008 due to retirement & health. The 28,000+ sq. ft. building set vacant until 2010 when I talked Mom & her partner into letting me rent the building. October 2010, I opened Unique Treasures Antiques & Flea Market. (The “Treasures” in the name coming from the family furniture business.) I wanted to open something different, not an antique store, because all the vendors in the store would be competing for sales against each other, plus not everyone likes antiques. I also did not want to open a flea market where everyone works their own booth, and a lot of people relate flea markets to old junk, furniture, clothes & knock offs.
I decided that Unique Treasures Antiques & Flea Market would be an upper end, classy flea with very nice merchandise and a lot of diversity in its 240 booths so everyone would enjoy shopping there. Something different, with really nice stuff that men, women & the kids would enjoy. I became a small business that made small businesses possible. Each booth is it’s on business. I wanted Unique Treasures to work like a co-op, building a team of vendors all pulling in the same direction and covering for each other. Instead of everyone working their individual booths whenever we are open they each volunteer to work one day per month, to cover the whole store. The vendors walk the floor helping customers with their purchases, loading, cashier, pricing or some do graphics, social media, advertising others like to clean & landscape. By working together as a team their booths are open for sales every day.
The store has been a success since the doors were open. We were full within a month with a waiting list for available booths.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
2008 was the struggle that changed my life . Plus, in 2008 my oldest son, Justin Edwards was killed in a car wreck at the age of 32. Nothing is worse than losing your child, it was a very hard year anyway but nothing compares to the grief & the loss. He was killed 3 weeks after the first time I set up to sell the barn wood furniture at Lakewood. Eventually you learn how to breathe again, grieve quieter, work harder, cherish your love ones, thank God and life goes on.
Getting customers to stop and shop for the first time. Where to advertise. Just getting them in the door is the challenge. Once they open the door I have them. They look around, smile, are very surprised at how big & nice the store is. How wide the aisles are. It takes a couple of hours to see & shop the whole store. As they are leaving they say they are happy they stopped & they are coming back again bringing their friend! Some people do not know how nice a flea market can be until they visit Unique Treasures.
When we first opened, we were open 4 days a week. Once open the vendors wanted to be open, 7 days a week. It was a challenge to hire additional managers & schedule the vendors so the store could be open & I could have some days off to operate my other businesses, keep up with all the paperwork and still have a personal life. It is a big challenge to keep the vendors scheduled for their day to work.
No show vendors for their day at work are always a problem.
Since Unique Treasures has opened my biggest challenge was the purchase of the building. Mom’s partner decided in 2012 at the end of our rental contact that the rent needed to triple+ since the business was doing so good which forced me into buying the building. I was excited about the business and wanted to own the building anyway so it worked out for the best. I purchased the building & the vacant lot next door in 2013.
It is a challenge to make sure that men love to shop at Unique Treasures as much as the women do. Keeping diversity with good quality merchandise in all the booth & display cases and hardworking vendors to supply & maintain the booths. It takes hard work by the vendors to keep a nice, well stocked & displayed booth. Inviting you to come in and shop with them. Updating their inventory when pieces sell making their booth look different on each visit.
Not enough parking for all my customers.
Operating a business in an Evermore CID corridor (Hwy 78 west of Snellville). It limits what we can do as a business. We cannot have a banner advertising for our business outside. Our Open sign cannot flash. No outdoor sales except charitable events. No signage. No more than 3 flags. Nothing that moves or blinks can be used to attract attention to the store. Very active code enforcement officers. Very difficult to get people to notice your business as they are driving by. We have yard sales for charity with special permits. Gwinnett County is building a road in the future behind the store. It has got my vacant lot next door tied up in their plans for a sediment retention pond. I however had purchased the lot for future building & parking growth. Does not look like I will be able to do that now. Upcoming fun negotiations with the DOT & Gwinnett County. At present, it’s keeping me from expanding.
I opened another Unique Treasures in Madison, GA but sold it in 2015. I was just too successful and I was working myself into bad health so I sold the store.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Unique Treasures Antique & Flea Market – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
I am a business that makes small business possible. Unique Treasures & it’s vendors make a winning TEAM. We are known for having the highest quality merchandise, at the best prices in a very nice, clean environment. WE are also known for our merchandise diversity. We have new, used, shabby chic, furniture, home decor, antiques, tools, coins, hunting, musical instruments, fishing, collectibles, collegiate, jewelry & jewelry repair, linen, record albums, fragrance, floral arrangements, toys, soaps, remote control airplanes, outdoor furniture, statues, lighting, window treatments, die cast cars, military, electronics, knives, clothing, wall art, clocks & clock repair, and so much more, it just has to be nice. We even have Rock Star Cafe’ so you can eat while you shop. A lot of people are looking to buy nice, gently loved or re-purposed merchandise and they love finding those unique treasures all over the store.
TV & movie companies love to shop at Unique Treasures for their sets. They like what they see so much that 4 different TV shows have filmed their shows at the store.
We have been voted THE BEST IN GWINNETT, Antique Store, by Gwinnett Magazines readers, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016 and nominated again in 2017!
Unique Treasures & it’s vendors have donated thousands of dollars to local charities. We have indoor & outdoor yard sales for the Charity of the Month & Unique Treasures donates 100% of its profits from these sales to the Charity. Often, we have matching donations for the amount we donate so our charity gets a double donation. It is a win, win, win because we are able to give to local charities, vendors get more sales and we get new customers who have stopped for the yard sale to come in and shop our store. We also support local food banks & Toy for Tots, and other worthy causes all during the year.
I am a Mom & Pop business with deep roots in this community. I am proud because my roots are here in Snellville going back to 1832 when the Nash side of my family (grandmother’s maiden name) homesteaded in Snellville. At one time the Nash’s owned Stone Mountain, and traded Stone Mountain for a shotgun or rifle because it wasn’t any good for farming. (family story) And the Moon side (my maiden name) dating back to the Cherokee Indians in Georgia. My family has been owning & operating businesses in Snellville & Gwinnett County for almost 200 years. I come from a long line of hard working, successful entrepreneurs.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
I want to continue to be the BEST flea market & antique store in Gwinnett County & the surrounding counties.
I want to increase my parking spaces and/or the size of my building. On the weekends, sometimes we do not have enough parking places for all the customers. I purchased the lot next to the store for future growth but at present those plans are in limbo due to the new road running behind the store. They are planning to take 1.09 acres of the 2.62 acres for a sediment retention pond, possibly leaving the lot unbuildable due to the required setbacks and buffers. Those future plans I’m afraid are on HOLD.
Semi-retirement. Reward of years of hard work. Don’t know if I will be able to do it. But hopefully if I keep the right people in place I can take a week off!
Contact Info:
- Address: 3635 Hwy 78, Snellville, Ga 30039
- Website: uniquetreasuresfleamarket.com
- Phone: 678 344-4858
- Email: uniquetreasuresfleamarket@gmail.com
- Instagram: uniquetreasures1
- Facebook: unique.treasures.961
Celebrating the 70’s event at Unique Treasures. The vendors dressed up like the 70’s, we played 70’s music on the sound system, featured 70’s memorabilia, furniture & life style, gave away prizes and had a lot of fun. Back row left to right: Ken Ayers, Jann Marthaler, Barbara Fusia, Michael Linz, Angela Sebree, Vickie Bell, Debra (DJ) McGlamery Front: Lee Tylor Edwards (my son). 
Barnwood furniture designed and built by myself and Tommy Tarver, my husband. 
Me playing with my band Wild Card. We are a dance band playing Old Rock n Roll, Classic Country, Southern Rock & Blue Grass. We often play on the front porch of Unique Treasures during special events. Right to left: Steve Decker guitar, Debra (DJ) McGlamery bass, Doug McGuire pedal steel. 
A picture of Unique Treasures Antique & Flea Market. The steeple on the store was save from demolish-ion. It was salvaged from a Baptist church being torn down on Rockbridge Road in 1974 when the building was built. 
One of the booths at Unique Treasures 
Another booth at Unique Treasures. 
Our wide aisles and awesome booths. 
The entrance to the store through our front doors. Jewerly counters at our front registers.
